Improvement in reciprocating steawi-engines



W. H. & l. H. JOHN-S..

`lr-vprovem'n'c"in Reciprocating Steam-Engines. No.. 128,400,` Patnted vJune 25,1872.

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UNITED STATES .l FFTGE.

WILLIAM H. JOHNS AND JOHN H. JOHNS, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

IMPROVEMENT IN RECIPRQCATING STEAM-ENGINES.`

Speciiication forming part of Letters Patent No. 128,400, dated June 25, 1872.

Specification of certain Imprm'enlents in Steam Engines, invented by WILLIAM H. J OHNs and JOHN HENRY J OnNs, both of Cincinnati, Hamilton county, Ohio.

Our invention relates to that class of motors commonly known as direct-acting steam-engines, in which the power is applied without the intervention of a {1y-wheel; and theirst part of our improvements consists in attaching the piston-rod of the engine to a rack which gears with a sector-wheel, said wheel being keyed to a rock-shaft, and7 consequenty, the reciprocating movement of the piston and its accompanying rack imparts a reciprocating rotary movement to the rock-sh aft, from which latter power may be taken and applied to any desired purpose. The second part of our improvements relates to a duplex engine,

which is formed by placing two steam-cylinders in line and opposite to one another, and attaching their respective piston-rods to each end of the aforesaid rack, so as to bring the power of both engines to bear upon the rockshaft by means of the previously-described sector-wheel. The third part Aof our improvements consists in attaching a vibrating arm to the main rock-shaft of the engine, to which 'arm is connected a rod that actuates the steamvalve through the medium of slotted levers, which latter can be adjusted at pleasure so as to enable the valve to out off steam at any desired part of the stroke. The fourth part of our improvement relates to the construction of a box or bearing by which the adjustable vibrating leveris supported. This steam-valve consists of the segment of a cylinder having a channel on its under or convex side, which channel is sufficiently long to reach from either of the steam-ports to the exhaust-port, and thus allow the spent steam to escape from either end of the cylinder as said valve oscillates within its concave seat. When this valve is in such a position as to discharge steam from one end ofthe cylinder it completely uncovers the p ort that leads to the other -end thereof,

so as to admit live steam thereto; but as soon as the position of the valve is changed the action of the steam is exactly reversed and the necessary reciprocations of the piston thereby secured.

Figure 1 is a side elevation, showing-our improvements as applied to a duplex engine and arranged for pumping purposes. Fig. 2 is a plan of the same. Fig.,3 is a longitudinal section through the steam-chest; and Fig. 4 is a transverse section through the lower part of the steam-cylinder.

`The last two illustrations are drawn on a somewhat enlarged scale.

A represents a bed-plate, upon which are mounted two steam-cylinders, B and C, of uniform bore and stroke, and said cylinders are provided with customary piston-rods b c. The outer ends of these piston-rods are attached to the heads d d' of a rack, D, with which is engaged a toothed sector, E, whose hub e is keyed to the main rock-shaft F. This rockshaft is journaled in standards Gr' G', that project upwardly from the bed-plate A. Secured to this rock-shaft is a vibrating arm, H, having a slot, h, within which is fitted an adjustable wrist-pin, I. Pivoted to this wrist-pin are two connecting-rods, J J', which communicate mot-ion to the levers K K', the latter being slotted at k 7c so as to be adjusted upon the screw-threaded boxes L, as more clearly shown in Fig. 4. These boxes are maintained in position upon the pivot-bolts M M' by nuts Zand keys m. The bolts are fitted within slots N, that are cast upon the sides of the cylinders, and said bolts are retained at any desired elevation within said slots by the heads m' and nuts O. Projecting from the upper ends of levers K K' are pins P P', which traverse slots r r' in the levers It It' and the latter are attached to rock-shafts'S S', that are arranged transversely of the steam-chests T T'. The steam-chests inclose valve-seats which have the concave or dish-shape shown at Q in Fig.

3, and the steam-ports U U' and exhaust-port l V communicate with said seat in the' manner illustrated. Adapted'to oscillate within this seat is a valve, W, havingthe shape of the segment of a cylinder with a channel, w, ex-

tending along a portion of its under or workl pump-rods f. The reeiprocations of pistons b and e impart a corresponding motion of the rack D, causing the sector E to vibrate, which, consequently compels an alternate semirotatory movement of the rock-shaft F. From this shaft power maybecom municated through the medium of arms f or otherwise for any desired purpose. The alternate movement of the rock-shaft F causes the arm H to have a vibratory motion, and thus operates the steamvalves W through the medium of connecting? rods J J, levers K K and It It', and valveshafts S S. When the valveW is thrown into the position shown in Fig. 3 the port U is opened and live steam lows through-the same into the cylinder, the spent steam at the same time escaping through channel U, recess fw, and exhaust-port V into the pipe Z. As soon as the valve is shifted in an opposite manner the action is exactly reversed, the live steam l being discharged through passage U and the spent steam being discharged through passage U', channel w, and exhaustport V. The adt justing devices H h, K k, M, N, and R r permit the steam-valve to be set so as to cut oft at any desired portion of the stroke. The set-screws x can be set up so as to prevent any lost motion occurring between the actuating-shaft S and the steam-valve W, which latter is maintained within its seat Q by the pressure of steam alone. .Owing to the shape of this valve its movement has a tendency to wear the seat true, and, consequently, it is a1- ways steam-tight, and therefore requires no special regrindin g.

In the drawing two steam-cylinders are shown, but it is evident that the principal features of our invention may be embodied in a single engine, in which case the rack D may have attached to it the piston of a pump or blowing apparatus, or any other appliance to which it is desired to impart a direct reciprocating action.

Instead of the arms f there may be attached to the main rock-shaft F a numberof toothed sectors similar to the one E, and said sectors may gear with racks upon the upper ends of the pump-rods f or be connected to any other mechanical device which requires a reciproeatin g movement.

Claims.

We claim as our inventionl l. The arrangement of piston b, rack D, and sector-wheel E, for imparting a reciprocating rotary movement to the main rock-shaft F of a direct-acting steamengiue, substantially as herein described.

2. We claim the duplex direct-action steamengine, consisting, essentially, of the cylinders B b O c, rack D, sector-wheel E, rock-shaft F, and slotted vibratin g arm H h, when used in connection with any suitable valve-operating mechanism.

3. In connection with the slotted vibrating I 

